TM - This is Amelia and Elizabeth from Twinmusix and we are here with Taime from Faster Pussycat. Thank you for having this interview with us today we really appreciate it.
TE - No problem.
TM - Are you excited to come to Australia?
TE - Very much so.
TM - What can fans expect from your Australian tour?
TE - We are just going to be playing a bunch of our music and hopefully our new song. We are going to have rehearsals tomorrow so we will see what happens. We are looking forward to it, plus I am going to spend an extra week out there on vacation with my woman. I am looking forward to seeing some of the country.
TM - That's awesome, what are you doing with your woman?
TE - She has a friend that lives outside Melbourne so we are going to go down there. Then we are going to go up to Sydney and do the tourist stuff because everytime we have been over there it's just been airport to hotel to venue and shampoo, rinse, repeat. We don't really get to see anything except when we are taking off on the plane. It's a clear day so this time we will be able to see a little bit more.
TM - That sounds fun, is there anything that you really wanted to see?
TE - I have seen a koala and stuff but I have never really seen a kangaroo. I just want to see some of the country and be out in it and not just see it through an aeroplane window. I'm just looking forward to seeing stuff, we have been outside the Opera House, it was kind of rainy, we just saw it. I just want to spend a little bit of time in the day that's not only an hour.
TM - Well hopefully you bring some good weather with you because it's been a bit on and off at the moment, some days its raining and some days it’s sunny.
TE - Kimberly was just talking to her friend down there and she said it was pissing down rain right now in Melbourne. Hopefully it says it's going to be nice when we are there. It's like California right now, we have had so much rain here, it has been ridiculous. It hardly ever rains here, we have been in a drought the past few years and now we just get soaked, mudslides and everything. Whatever, we are definitely looking forward to coming there, hopefully the weather is nice being in that much cold weather is shit. I'm trying to pack accordingly and they are saying it’s supposed to be hot there so it better be.
TM - You said you were going into rehearsals tomorrow, do you have any clues on the setlist?
TE - We never really have any idea, we are just like let's do this one, that one and that one there because we have certain set-lists we do that have certain amounts of times on them for the performances. We don't know, we have a ballpark of most of the songs we do. We are going to try and add our new track in there but that depends on how it sounds tomorrow, if it's ready to go we will do it. Everyone has been on hiatus we have rehearsed a couple of times before and only gone over the new stuff a few times. It wasn't very defined we were just trying to figure out the new parts. We will see what happens, what comes tomorrow.
TM - You released ‘Like A Ghost’. What was the writing and recording process on that?
TE - That was killer, that was the first song I started writing sober since the old days. The song started out as an acoustic song and I am not really known for writing acoustic songs but I started there. Then I added an acoustic guitar to it and changed the beats and of course you have to add a cowbell. All of a sudden it just turned into this rock track so it's one of those songs that just developed overtime and I think it turned out pretty cool. That's the way things are for me. Today it takes a lot longer to put things together because I want it to sound just right by going through the process so having Sam Bam on it helped me put it together and made it that much easier, he is an amazing kid.
TM - Are you writing any more new music?
TE - Yes we are, we have another track that's probably ready to go when we get back. We are also covering ‘Don't Change’ by INXS that's why we were trying to get it done before we left. We are going to play it so he played it last time we were there and we changed up a bit of the rhythm. It sounds more like Sex Pistols but it's all the same structure and melody line. The chord progressions are all the same, its got a little more evil to it, it sounds pretty cool. We should play that live, we have another track called ‘Pretty Ugly’ and one that's called ‘Wonderful Life’, ‘Motorbike’ is the next one though. That one should be out after we get back.
TM - Well that's cool, we can't wait to hear those tracks.
TM- If you could have any band play one of your songs what band would it be, what song and in your style or their style?
TE - That is a bunch of questions in one. It's not like, what is your favourite colour or what is your favourite ice cream because doing other interviews and stuff you just start thinking about different stuff. Your not thinking about would I be a band at this period of time or at that period of time just hearing Aerosmith doing ‘House of Pain’ in 1979 would be pretty f****n cool or Aerosmith doing ‘Whipped’ would be pretty cool. Hearing Cheap Trick would be pretty cool, or The Cult doing something. I could just go on there are too many bands that I love.
TM - I think Steven Tyler doing ‘House of Pain’ would be epic.
TE - Don't you think he would bury my shit. I would be like, I can't even sing that anymore.
TM - Your first European tour it was Guns and Roses that is pretty cool.
TE - Yeah, they brought us with them. Whenever our song came out it was great. It was our first time in Europe, we flew into Germany. First, we were in Hamburg and when you fly somewhere where they don't speak English, you think they do. You go into some little pub or restaurant to order something and they are just like, “What are you talking about?”. That language barrier is always weird. Way back then it was our first time for everything. It was the first time we were in Europe, we changed planes. I remember seeing people at the airport with machine guns so I was like that was weird. I always remember that but it was fun. Izzy Stradlin was one of my first friends it was fun being over there with those guys, there were a lot of firsts.
TM - There are a lot of languages.
TE - Back around 2012 or a bit later we went to Europe and it was us and The Art. We had this Russian band on the bill and they were meant to be a buy-on, they were supposed to supply the back line and transport for all of us and they just f****d the pooch and f****d everything up. Me and Chad ended up renting a van, and we all piled into it, had the backline, have the promoters get all the backline at the venues. We were driving through Germany, Holland and Scandinavia. Me and Chad were driving and taking turns driving. All the different languages, it was fun. It was an adventure for sure. At least they drive on our side of the road. The languages and the street signs, like I don't understand a word but in England or Australia you might understand the words. You might run into somebody. I might rent a car when I am up in Sydney. Oh, Mark from Golden Robot has a motorcycle. I might use that.
TM - You are signed to Golden Robot Records, how did that come about?
TE - I know Gilby Clarke was with them and then Mark reached out a couple of times. We were in between stuff and we were talking to somebody else. I met up with Mark when they came out here, his kid Jagger and one of the other guys at his office. We just all got a long and I like them. We did a singles deal and I thought “If I'm going to do a deal I might as well do it with someone I like”. There are some other places in the United States that I could have done stuff with. I just didn't really know them or really care to. Me and Mark get on really well and I figured I would just see how it goes.
TM - What's your favourite memory of watching someone else perform live?
TE - That whole tour with Guns and Roses was fun. We watched every show every night. We did about nine shows, I don't really smoke weed but we were in Amsterdam. We got hash and cigarette paper and turning into a retard and the she was really amazing and I don't know if it was because they were great or if it was because I was high on hash. That was one of the fun ones, I remember doing it with KISS. In the early times we were out with KISS they were not wearing the makeup. I was a huge KISS fan when I was a kid. I would just go up to the top and close my eyes and imagine it was old school KISS with Jean with his demon boots. I would open my eyes and they would be in pink tights and white shoes that were bedazzled. I will close my eyes again and imagine they were dressed up. Those were two little things that I remember.
TM - What was the first artist or band that you ever saw live?
TE - The first band I saw live was Jackson 5 when I was 10 and the Rolling Stones that I saw when I was 11. My mum took me to both concerts.
TM - Your mum must have been a cool person to take you to those concerts.
TE - Yeah, my mum turns me onto a bunch of stuff because she used to buy records. She would get them like me, she would see the cover and be like that looks cool and then she would get it and be like ahh. She would give them to me if it wasn't her cup of tea. I remember her giving me Diamond Dogs by Bowie when it came out and I loved it, she liked it.
TM - You have some cool experiences.
TE - Yeah, you forget about them until someone asks you a question. Oh I forgot about that.
TM - Is there anything else you want to say to your fans?
TE - Thank you for sticking with us for over 30 years and if you are just finding out about us thank you for jumping aboard. I really appreciate everybody and I am really looking forward to coming to Australia again and actually spending a little bit of extra time there. I'm looking forward to playing with some of our other friends from the US that are coming over. There are some other people that I'm looking forward to meeting and some of the local bands that are on the bill. I am looking forward to it.
TM - Thank You for having this interview with us today, we appreciate it.